April 22 2010

feedback from Stress and Social Development Workshop

107 people from across the Otago region attended the Stress and Social Development Workshop run by the OCASG on March 13th in Dunedin (see posts below for more info). Parents, caregivers, teachers, teacher aides and other professionals took part in an extremely informative and fun day. Our presenters, Alison Schroeder and Justine Aldous (both of Christchurch) gave the audience a range of strategies and ideas to assist them with the ASD young persons they were either working or living with.  

Comments on the workshop included: 

"Great – practical ideas that are user friendly." 

"I found it really great, good ideas to practice with my son."

"Interesting animated presentation with clear explanations & practical ideas."

"Today was extremely valuable and very practical for our setting." 

"Excellent, informative & well placed presentation." 

The event was made affordable for many to attend thanks to the support of some local schools and kindergartens for a ‘Wacky Hair Day’ fundraising event during June 2009. Participating schools and kindys were each able to send 2 teachers/teachers aides or parents/whanau to the workshop free. We would also like to thank and acknowledge the Community Organisation Grants Scheme (COGS) for helping to make this day possible. 

If you would like to find out more about upcoming workshops our group is running, contact us now and we will keep your name for future reference, and let you know when we have course content and dates confirmed. 

March 07 2010

Reminder: upcoming workshop

The workshop on Stress and Social Development is next Saturday, March 13. 

The focus is on enabling people with ASD to cope with stressful situations and social development.

Here is the PDF with info about the presenters and topics to be covered.

We hope you can make it!

February 24 2010

National standards testing and students with autism

The new NZ national standards (for testing and reporting the attainment of primary school students) are being widely discussed in the media and in education circles. Hilary Stace posted this artlcle on the Humans website. In it, she considers whether the the focus of a system – which measures only literacy and numeracy – would be too narrow for kids with ASD. The author poses other questions, such as whether children with autism might become marginalised in a more competitive environment, and whether assessment and reporting can increase the quality of education for these children.

December 01 2009

Upcoming workshop – March 2010

Stress and Social Development: Enabling people with ASD to cope with stressful situations and social development.

Presented by Alison Schroeder and Justine Aldous.

13th March 2010 at Pacific Park, 22-24 Wallace Street, Dunedin, 9 - 3pm.

cost: $40 family, $60 Professional.

Please download the PDF for more info about this valuable event.

November 18 2009

Welcome to our new site!

We want to provide local people with better info, and help health and education professionals and policy-makers to better understand our stories. Please contact us with any suggestions or questions.